NCERT Solutions Curiosity Chapter 2 –22Section 2.2.2 How to group animals? — Activity 2.9: Let us find out

Book page 21 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.

Which body parts are used by the animals in the poster you created and those in Fig. 2.7 for movement?

Answer

Fig. 2.7 shows a pond and the field around it, with several animals magnified in circles — an ant, an earthworm, a centipede, a tortoise, a snake, a butterfly, a frog and a fish, along with a cow, a rabbit, birds on a tree and egrets at the water's edge. This is the body part each one uses.

Animal in Fig. 2.7	Body part used for movement	How it moves
Ant	Six legs	Walks and crawls
Earthworm	Whole body — muscles and tiny bristles	Crawls by stretching and shortening
Centipede	Many pairs of legs	Crawls quickly
Butterfly	Wings and legs	Flies; walks on a flower
Snake	Whole body and scales (no legs)	Crawls / slithers
Tortoise	Four short legs	Walks slowly; swims
Frog	Strong hind legs with webbed feet	Hops on land, swims in water
Fish	Fins and tail	Swims
Cow	Four legs with hooves	Walks and runs
Rabbit	Four legs, hind legs longer	Hops and runs
Birds (sparrow, egret)	Wings and legs	Fly, walk, wade

The pattern to notice: the body part matches the surroundings. Wings for air, fins for water, legs for hard ground — and for animals that move through soil or grass, no limbs at all but a long muscular body that pushes against whatever it touches.

Q2.

List these animals in Table 2.5. Note the ways in which these animals move and name the body parts used for movement.

Answer

Here is Table 2.5 filled in, with the blanks of the printed table completed and a few animals of your own added.

S. no.	Name of the animal	Type of movement	Body parts used for movement
1.	Ant	Walks and crawls	Legs
2.	Goat	Walks and jumps	Legs
3.	Pigeon	Walks and flies	Legs and wings
4.	Housefly	Walks and flies	Legs and wings
5.	Fish	Swims	Fins
6.	Snake	Crawls	Whole body and scales
7.	Frog	Hops and swims	Hind legs with webbed feet
8.	Earthworm	Crawls	Muscles of the body and bristles

Tip: the two blanks in the printed table are for the ant (type of movement — walks and crawls) and the fish (type of movement — swims). Fill in your own rows 6, 7 and 8 with animals you have actually watched, not copied.

Q3.

What conclusions can you draw from the data given in Table 2.5?

Answer

Three conclusions come straight out of the table.

Different animals have different types of movement. Animals can fly, run, crawl, walk, hop or jump, and swim.
They use different body parts to move. Wings, legs, fins — and some animals, like the earthworm and the snake, use the whole body because they have no limbs at all.
One animal may have more than one type of movement. A pigeon both walks and flies; a frog both hops and swims; a housefly both walks and flies. So the same animal can appear in two groups if we group by movement.

Why the third point matters: it shows that a basis of grouping must be stated carefully. "Animals that fly" and "animals that walk" overlap, because a pigeon does both. A sharper basis would be "animals that can fly" and "animals that cannot fly" — that puts every animal in exactly one group.

Q4.

How can we group animals based on their movements?

Answer

Pick one clear question about movement, and sort every animal by the answer.

Basis	Groups formed	Examples
Can it fly?	Flying / non-flying	Pigeon, housefly, butterfly, bat \| cow, fish, ant, snake
How does it move on land?	Walkers / hoppers / crawlers	Goat, cow \| frog, rabbit, grasshopper \| snake, earthworm, ant
Does it swim?	Swimmers / non-swimmers	Fish, whale, duck, frog \| goat, pigeon, ant
Which body part is used?	Legs / wings / fins / no limbs	Goat, ant \| pigeon, housefly \| fish \| snake, earthworm
Number of legs	None / two / four / six / many	Snake \| pigeon \| goat \| ant \| centipede

Why grouping animals is worth doing: like plants, grouping animals is important for understanding their diversity. It also reveals a deeper idea — the way an animal moves is closely tied to where it lives. Fins go with water, wings with air, hooves with hard ground. That link is exactly what section 2.3 takes up next.

Try This: Make a poster of ten animals from your own area and mark each one with a symbol — a wing, a leg, a fin or a wavy line for no limbs. The poster then groups itself.

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